


You're My Anchor

by tabbytabbytabby



Series: These Little Words [4]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: And always will be, Board Games, Competitive Liam Dunbar, Competitive Stiles Stilinski, Established Relationship, Fluff, Good Theo Raeken, Happy Theo, Idiots in Love, Liam Dunbar is Theo Raeken's Anchor, M/M, Pack Bonding, Sheriff Stilinski's Name is John, Theo Raeken is Liam Dunbar's Anchor, Theo is part of the pack, sappy Theo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-09
Updated: 2017-10-09
Packaged: 2019-01-15 02:44:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12312267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tabbytabbytabby/pseuds/tabbytabbytabby
Summary: All it takes is watching Liam play a very competitive game of Sorry for Theo to realize Liam is his anchor.





	You're My Anchor

**Author's Note:**

> This has not been beta read so any mistakes are my own. If you see any please point them out so I can fix them.

Theo can’t pinpoint when it happened exactly. He had noticed his anchor shifting shortly after he and Liam started dating but most of his control still came from focusing on his anger. It was easy, reliable, and had never failed him. He should have known that would change when he found himself happier, no longer having the anger simmering underneath his skin. Sure, it was still there but not the way it was before. Nowhere near enough to be an adequate way to keep his control. But then he was in some sort of limbo, still relying on his anger but knowing there was something else also anchoring him. _Someone else,_ his mind supplies. It was always a passing thought, something he didn’t think much on.  

It hits him suddenly. It’s not like a sudden punch to the gut feeling. More like a sudden feeling of relief. He and Liam are at a pack night with Scott and the others that back for a visit. Liam and Mason are teaming up against Scott and Stiles for a game of Sorry. Theo didn’t know Sorry could be played in teams but those four are quickly proving him wrong. Scott of course had to be red with Stiles taking blue, stating that it’s pretty while throwing a wink towards Derek. Which left Liam with yellow and Mason with green.

It started out as every man for himself but when Stiles had taken out Mason Liam had decided he needed to get revenge for his fallen friend and started going after Stiles, which then led to Scott going after Liam to protect Stiles. Which led to where they are now, blue and red against green and yellow. Theo isn’t sure how anyone is supposed to win like this but when he questions it he receives glares from both Liam and Stiles.

Rolling his eyes, Theo leans back against the wall, content to just watch the game unfold. Derek joins him a moment later, offering him a can of soda. Both share a fond eye roll as Stiles and Liam continue to yell at each other.

For the most part, Scott and Mason seem happy to sit back and actually play the game while Stiles and Liam spew insults and threats at each other. Theo doesn’t think he’s ever been so amused watching people play a game of Sorry. Then again, he never had much time for board games until recently so he doesn’t have much experience to go on.

He knows that people can be competitive but he’s not sure they’re supposed to be _this_ competitive. He wouldn’t be surprised if pieces started flying across the room. As if sensing this, the Sheriff speaks up from his recliner telling the group that they’re responsible for finding any pieces they lose, he doesn’t care where they wind up. Stiles just rolls his eyes, telling him they’re not kids and know how to not lose game pieces. From the looks Derek and the Sheriff wear neither one quite believes that.

“The first time we played monopoly Stiles lost the dog when he threw it at my head,” Derek tells him, smiling fondly down at his boyfriend, “we searched for hours but never found it. Stiles wound up having to buy a new game hoping his Dad wouldn’t notice.”

“But I did notice,” John speaks up, “we had the same monopoly game for years. How could I not notice when the game looked suddenly brand new.”

“Why didn’t he just replace the dog?” Theo asks.

“I may have ruined some of the cards in my search for the dog,” Stiles sighs, “and the dog was chipped from when I was a kid.”

Theo looks from Stiles back to Derek who smirks, “He chipped the new piece hoping to make it look like the old one.”

“But he did it on the wrong ear,” the Sheriff says, shaking his head with a laugh, “it was a nice try though.”

“Yeah yeah,” Stiles mutters, watching Liam intently as he grabs a card from the pile and examines it with a smirk. Theo knows what’s coming as soon as Liam places the sorry card down and looks right at Stiles as he knocks his piece off the board, “How dare you! I will so get you for this!”

Liam shoots Theo a grin and he can’t help grinning back. His smiles come more easily now, they’re more genuine.

Stiles, of course, points it out, “It’s weird that Theo smiles so much now,” when Liam smacks him upside the head for that he groans and looks apologetically towards Theo, “I didn’t say it was a bad weird. Just different.”

Theo thinks about how much things have changed the past 9 months that he and Liam have been together. Beacon Hills is calmer in a way no one ever expected. Sure, they sometimes have their rogue supernatural creature passing through but nothing compared to the battles they faced in the past. It should be reassuring, but none of them have allowed themselves to completely relax. Too afraid that once they do something will happen and catch them unprepared. That doesn’t mean they haven’t been enjoying the peace while they have it.

He’s also part of a pack now, which is something he never thought would happen. At least not for a reason other than wanting power. That doesn’t matter to him anymore, it hasn’t for a while. Now he just wants to be safe, to be happy, and to make sure Liam and the pack are safe and happy. At first it had just been about Liam but somewhere along the way he started caring for and looking out for the others.

Theo knows the biggest change has occurred with him, with who he is now as a person. A year ago, he never would have expected to be here, enjoying watching the pack play board games and actually feeling like he belonged. It took a while but he finally found his place and he knows that’s mostly thanks to Liam. Liam can tell him all he wants that Theo got here on his own but Theo knows better. He knows he had it in him to be a better person and there’s a chance he still would have worked towards that but Liam gave him that push he needed. Liam loves him and trusts him and gives him a place where he feels safe and wanted. Liam grounds him in a way he never thought possible.

“You’re my anchor,” Theo breathes out, awe clear in his voice.

He hadn’t meant to say it, but the thought felt too huge to stay hidden in the depths of his mind. As soon as he says the words all activity in the room stops as the wolves turn to stare at him. The people in the room without supernatural hearing just look confused as to why everyone has turned as still as statues. Theo feels Derek shift beside him but his eyes are only on Liam, who is staring at him with wide eyes, a card help loosely in his hand.  

“Am I missing something?” Stiles asks, looking between Liam and Theo, “I feel like I’m missing something. Though I’m not sure what he could have said to warrant that reaction from all of you. Unless this is when you’re going to tell me that male pregnancy is a possibility. If that is the case we need to have a serious talk Derek Hale.”

Scott whispers something to Stiles, who looks at Liam again then back at Theo before sighing, “I guess this game is over since the little beta appears to be broken. Unless you want to take his place Der.”

“Against you? Are you sure you can handle that?” Derek asks, squeezing Theo’s shoulder and offering him a reassuring smile as he walks by.

Theo’s barely paying attention, too busy gauging Liam’s reaction. Liam, for his part, still hasn’t moved. He barely reacts when Derek takes the card he’s holding out of his hand. Theo sighs, walking into the kitchen, unsurprised to hear the commotion in the living room that follows his departure.

He's leaning against the counter, sipping on his soda when Liam comes running in, eyes immediately landing on Theo. Theo smirks at him, “I see I didn't break you too much then.”

“You just caught me by surprise,” Liam tells him, walking closer.

“Really?” Theo asks, putting his soda down and stepping up to Liam, “because I thought we’d been on our way here for a while. I'm your anchor, is it really surprising that you would be mine?”

“Of course not,” Liam takes Theo's hand, threading their fingers together, “I'm not surprised that I'm your anchor. It just caught me off guard the way you decided to tell me.”

Theo ducks his head, “I hadn’t meant for it to come out like that.”

“You just realized it, didn’t you?”

Theo nods, “Yeah I did. I knew you were starting to become my anchor but I didn’t realize I was already there. I was just thinking about how you make me feel safe and you ground me and it just hit me. Not in shocking way, more of an ‘oh of course he is’ sort of way.”

“Are you okay with it?” Liam asks, knowing how much Theo has relied on his anger in the past.

“I am,” Theo smiles, placing a quick kiss to Liam’s lips, “it should scare me but it doesn’t. I trust you and I love you, the fact that I can rely on you to help keep me grounded is just par for the course. It’s expected.”

Liam smiles, “You know you’ve turned into a big sap, right?” When Theo goes to pull back, Liam laughs and reels him in again, “I’m not complaining. I love how sappy you are. It’s… nice. Because it means you’re happy.”

“You saying things like that is just asking for me to be sappy,” Theo tells him, “but I am happy. _You_ make me happy.”

“Good because you make me happy too,” Liam says, nuzzling into Theo’s neck.

Theo lets out a content sigh, pulling his boyfriend closer. They stand like that for a moment before Stiles’ voice drifts into the kitchen, “If you two are done being all sentimental I need to kick Liam’s ass at more games.”

“You didn’t kick my ass last time!” Liam calls back, not bothering to pulls away from Theo yet.

“Because you two wouldn’t stop arguing so we had to call it a draw,” Scott says.

“Technically you both lost anyway,” Lydia reminds them, “since you two kept taking each other out and had the most pieces still in start.”

“You going to play this time?” Liam asks him, pulling back just enough to look up at Theo.

Theo looks into the living room where the others are setting up a game of Apples to Apples and smiles, taking Liam’s hand, allowing the beta to pull him back into the living room. A year ago, something as simple as playing board games with a pack, _his_ pack wouldn’t have been possible. But things have changed, _he’s_ changed. He has a pack, he has Liam. This is his life now and he couldn’t be happier.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! This went in a different direction than I'd planned but I still liked it. I'm far from done writing these two but this might be the last I do for the series since I'm not sure what else to do with it. But you never know. I'm always open for ideas, for this and other things.  
> [My tumblr](http://tabbytabbytabby.tumblr.com/)


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